Allahabad HC Grants Bail To Accused Of Rape And Voyeurism, Violates Mandate Against Identity Disclosure Of Victim

The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to an accused charged under sections 354C, 376 and 506 of the IPC for acts of voyeurism, rape and criminal intimidation, respectively, and sections 66E and 67A of the Information Technology Act of 2000 for violation of privacy and transmitting and publishing sexually explicit content.Further, violating the judicial mandate against identity disclosure...

“Judicial Diktats Alone May Not Be Able To Defend A Constitutional Culture”, Says Advocate And Author, M.P.Raju [PART 1]

Supreme Court advocate, M.P.Raju’s new book, India’s Constitution: Roots, Values & Wrongs, [Media House, Delhi, 2017] starts with a simple question: “India has a Constitution.  Does she have a constitutional culture?”.  Attempting to answer this in 464 pages of his book, Raju takes the readers to the social and moral dimensions of India’s Constitution.Today, most of us take India’s Constitution for granted.  Raju reminds us, quoting Justice H.R.Khanna, that behind it, there is a story of...

Legal Aid For Accused Should Not Be For Namesake,Experienced Lawyers Should Be Provided For Conducting His Case: Bombay HC [Read Judgment]

Legal aid to be provided at state expenses should not be for namesake, the bench said.The Bombay High Court has directed trial court judges that sufficiently experienced lawyer should be provided for conducting the case of the accused and they should be appointed only after recording satisfaction of their competency.The Aurangabad bench of Justice TV Nalawade and Justice AM Dhavale made...

Hosteller Moves Kerala HC Challenging Gender Discriminatory Hostel Rules Curtailing Women’s Freedom Of Movement [Read Petition]

The hostel rules of Sri Kerala Varma College, Thrissur, Kerala, affiliated to the University of Calicut, have been challenged by a lady student, Anjitha Jose, who is in third year of BA (English) course. According to her, the hostel rules impose unreasonable and discriminatory restrictions on female students.It is stated in the petitioner that for females, the in-time on Monday, Wednesday...

Why Biometric Aadhaar Database Project Should Be Abandoned

Biometric databases have given birth to gnawing present and future civil liberties and civil rights concerns. Biometric identification exercise has been in use at least since 19th century. History of biometric profiling is a history of violence and repression. A stolen password can be changed but stolen fingerprints cannot be changed.Biometric identification is an invitation to violence. A motorist in Germany had a finger chopped off by thieves seeking to steal his exotic car, which used a...

Launch Of Vidhi’s Briefing Book On Rule Of Law: ‘Does Democracy Mean All Is Well On Rule Of Law Front’?

On Friday, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy hosted an event at the Constitutional Club of India in New Delhi to celebrate the launch of its briefing book Towards the Rule of Law: 25 Legal Reforms for India. The book launch was followed by a public debate on the motion: “This house believes that present day India is a rule of law State”.The debate, moderated by Rajdeep Sardesai,...

2G Scam: Legality Vs Criminality

The judgment in 2G "scam" has shocked the Indian middle class dominated by technocrats. The answer lies in their failure to understand the difference between what is meant by legality and what is known as criminality.The SC, in its writ jurisdiction, tested the legality of 2G license allocations and finally in 2012 struck down the allocation on the ground that the allocation was arbitrary, as the transparent procedure of public action was not followed.On the other hand, criminality is a...

Delhi HC Uphold Conviction Of Six Policemen In A Custodial Death Case, Says Not Much Has Changed Since 'D.K. Basu' Judgment [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court, last week, upheld the conviction of six Policemen belonging to the Special Staff of the Delhi Police for the custodial death of one Dalip Chakraborty in 1995.Hearing the Appeals filed by the officers, the Bench comprising Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice I.S. Mehta, at the outset, referred to the Supreme Court decision in the case of D.K. Basu v. State of West...

Delhi HC Suspends Two Judicial Officers For Alleged Corruption, Audio Clips Handed Over To HC

The Delhi High Court has suspended two judicial officers posted at Dwarka courts over charges of alleged corruption. The high court has suspended Additional District Judge (MACT) Jitendra Mishra and Special Judge (Electricity) Naveen Arora. The high court is also in possession of audio recordings against Mishra, sources informed. “While Naveen Arora’s foreign trips were funded by...

Delhi HC Takes Suo Motu Cognizance Of DDA Demolishing Hostel For Blind

The Delhi High Court on Friday took suo motu cognizance of the report about the DDA demolishing a hostel for visually-impaired students in west Delhi leaving them out in cold and ordered their immediate rehabilitation.A bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar took cognizance of the matter and issued notice to LG, the Delhi government, DDA, DUSIB and also the...

Minor Rape Victim Denied Permission To Terminate Pregnancy As AIIMS Say Mother At Risk

The Delhi High Court on Friday declined permission to a minor rape victim to terminate her pregnancy of almost 27 weeks after AIIMS gave a report saying abortion at this age is relatively unsafe for the mother.In its report placed before a bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice IS Mehta, the AIIMS medical board said: “As on December 21, the duration of pregnancy of Ms X (victim, as...

Delhi HC Dismisses Petition Challenging Ajay Maken's Election [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, dismissed the petition challenging election of Mr. Ajay Maken as a Member of Parliament from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency for the Lok Sabha elections of 2009.Justice S. Ravindra Bhat was hearing a Petition filed by Mr. Adesh Kumar Gupta, who had alleged that Mr. Maken, along with his election agent, indulged in "corrupt practices" and...